Colorado at Nebraska -- Tay Hester's Senior Night

[ChipperF1]

2nd half -- Nebraska 32, Colorado 30 16:33 2nd half.

Its been very even. Catheryn Redmon and Tay Hester have come on so far. Richards, Spears and Mullaney have been equalling the effort for CU.

16:05 left Redmon put the block of life on Richards..

15:37 left Richards hits a loopy off-balanced shot to tie the game 32-32.

Time out on the floor. Richards has 13 for the Buffs.

[ChipperF1]

BIG RED ON FIRE!!!!! Turner has scored 6 points in the last 1:30....10-2 run for Nebraska and the Huskers go up 42-34....

Kelley THREE-BALL BABY off the Montgomery rebound!!! Nebraska 45, Colorado 34!!!

Jessica Periago right wing, three pointer!!!!! AND MATT COATNEY PARLEZ VOUS SOME RADIO FRANCAIS!!!!!!!!!! THREE-BIEN MOI CHERE!!!!!!!!!

Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!!!!!!! Nebraska 48, Colorado 34

Spears answers...STOLEN...!!! Kelley to Neals to Turner to Periago!!!!! Nebraska 50, Colorado 34

Jessica Periago!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!

[ChipperF1]

ooooooooooooooh Kaitlyn Burke....she hit a shot again!!!!!

Nebraska up 53-39....Vonnie Turner explodes from the right wing Nebraska 55-39...Catheryn Redmon battling for the ball fouled by Fressle..

This is awesome to watch.. This isn't the same Nebraska group we saw in January!!!

[ChipperF1]

Brittany Spears is playing in pain with a bad ankle, but Colorado hanging in

Nicole Neals...BIG THREE!!!!! A CAREER SCORING EFFORT!!!! Nebraska 60, Colorado 46...

Mullaney forced into another turnover.



1:53 LEFT...Colorado not dying...Richard and Mullaney widdling the lead to single digits.....but Vonnie Turner step back on their necks with the corkscrew inside 68-57

Nebraska stretches it out....Huskers leads 72-59...:34 left

Richards with 24 to lead Colorado tonight... Its the foul party late.

Finally it ends.....Nebraska 75, Colorado 64....FINAL!

We're at .500 overall!!!!!

[BeBe]

Same old same old for CU. Play well for a while then give up a big run and spend the rest of the game trying to get back into it and fail. I am so blankity blank sick of that pattern. If memory serves, it started with the first Big 12 game last season. They have certainly had lots of time to perfect the pattern by now. :mad: Too bad our wonderful coaching staff hasn't been able to figure out what to do yet. Maybe 20+ games played that way hasn't been enough for them to realize whats going on. I've been really disappointed in the way CU has been playing for quite some time now. Too bad UCLA didn't hire KMM in last years off-season. Oh well. Only one more game to endure for this season.

[HuskerFan86]

What has gotten into Nicole Neals the last couple of games?!? 10 points, 3 steals...way to go Tiny, make me eat all those nasty words I said about you:)

Even better news, Jessica Periago looks like she's figuring out how to play NCAA ball. Jeff and Matt think that she's the most improved Husker this year, which is saying something considering how far Redmon has come. 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 huuuge shots in this game.

Vonnie with 17, Nique with 13, Montgomery with 12 and 10.

WAY TO GO HUSKERS!! Now I can truly enjoy the state tournament this week!!

[Cyclones Rule]

Congrats :NU: Glad you could send Tay out on a winning note!!!!!

[BeBe]

Don't get too overly excited by this win Husker fans. Remember who you were playing ..... a bad team that has perfected a pattern guaranteed to lose games. But this probably does help give you the lift you need to get into the WNIT. And once there, anything can happen ... as evidenced by CU's making it all the way to the WNIT semi-final last season. Good luck.

[HuskerFan86]

I'm really happy for Tay as well. She hasn't always been the most consistent player, but she has never given up and has been a great addition to the Husker program. She brought a lot of intensity and athleticism to last year's team, and we wouldn't have beaten Xavier and pushed Maryland to the limit in the NCAAs without Tay.

She's also been a huge factor in our late season turn around. I can almost point to the exact moment when things started going better for Nebraska, and it was in the second half of the Missouri game a couple weeks ago, when Hester's rebounding, energy, and defensive effort swung the game in our favor.

She could've given up when it became clear that her senior year wasn't going to live up to its billing, but she never quit and has led us to the brink of the WNIT.

Thank you Tay. You've played a big part in making Nebraska a respectable program again, and your effort and dedication are a great example for future generations to follow.

[LadyBuff]

Outcome is no surprise given that CU is poorly coached and has shown little improvement since the first game of the season.

Congratulations, Nebraska.

[HuskerFan86]

Don't get too down BeBe. Throw Whitney Houston into the mix and CU would be substantially better. Like I said after you all beat us in Boulder, the backcourt of Spears, Fressle, Houston, and Smith has the potential to be scary in the coming years.

Matt and Jeff were commenting on how much Fressle has improved ("most improved freshman in the league in their opinions), and I would dearly like to have her on our roster in the coming years. Spears is the best one-on-one player in the conference as a sophomore, and still has a lot of untapped potential. Some of the pieces are in place, they just need some time and some luck with injuries.

[ChipperF1]

The lasses came to play and now hold their WNIT fortunes in their hands..

Celebration Over. You haven't done anything yet. WE NEED TWO MORE WINS.

[BeBe]

To that list of things CU needs, huskerfan86, I would add some decent coaching.

What I have seen lately from Fressle has been only a shadow of what she showed in the non-con games. Now, hopefully, much of that is due to the far superior level of competition in the Big 12 games as compared to the cupcakes and creampuffs that were the majority of the CU non-con schedule. And that she is now learning what it takes to compete at a Big 12 level.

You're right about the backcourt. The CU backcourt has the potential to be really good next year and the year after. Unfortunately, I see NO frontcourt to complement that backcourt for next season. And you can't play Big 12 basketball without a decent post presence. Unless Dunn and/or Seabrook make some serious strides in the off-season, CU will be an un-balanced team and un-balanced teams are much easier to beat than balanced teams. Maybe the coaches will find an uncommitted JUCO or international gem who can step in and help out right awayin the frontcourt. But I wouldn't bet anything on that happening.

[LadyBuff]

Houston is an excellent basketball player, as is Spears. Paper says Spears didn't play the entire game last night due to a sprained ankle. She played 35 minutes. What more do they want from her?

Smith has not been shooting well recently. Fressle must be totally frustrated after playing for Highlands Ranch and winning consecutive state championships. Why she signed with a school like CU and a coach like KMM is beyond me.

We will not have a decent center next year with Richards gone. I don't see any signs that Dunn or Seabrook can do the job. Don't know anything about the freshman from Omaha. I would wonder why any quality player would sign with CU.

[rock]

I still think smith is a bench player in the big 12. When she is hot she can take over a game, but if she is not than no. I am disappointed the lost almost every game in the big 12, but this year the non-conference losses, really gnaw at me. I am not that sold on houston either, I think she is better than they have now, but I do not see her as a difference maker in this team. With no post presence next year it will be tough. A bad thing for kmm is now the non-basketball cu fan has started to ask for her head, instead of ignoring her program all together with is the norm, what a difference a year makes, and makes me appreciate Mcfarland more and more

[HuskerFan86]

Don't know anything about the freshman from Omaha. I would wonder why any quality player would sign with CU.

You should monitor the Nebraska HS Tournament thread in the next couple days if you're interested in reading more about MacFarlane. Her team (Millard North) is the #4 seed and should make some noise at Devaney.

I've said before that I think she has the potential to be a very solid role player in the Big 12, defending the post, blocking shots, and rebounding, but I'd be shocked if she's a starter before her junior or senior year.

One thing's for sure, she has lots of size. She'll probably be the strongest and tallest player in the league next year (although Griner or Prins might be a little taller, I've never seen them play).

[mred]

(although Griner or Prins might be a little taller, I've never seen them play).

MacFarlane is listed at 6'7" on hoopgurlz. So is Griner, but she might actually be 6'8" now. Prins is listed at 6'6", which I've heard is pretty accurate.

[LadyBuff]

If MacFarlane will only be a role player, CU is in big trouble. We don't have a center returning.

I've sat by Prins at CU games. I'd say 6-6 is fairly accurate. :p

[buffgal]

If a team has played nearly 30 games and the coaches still don't understand why they don't play well, they (the coaches) should all be fired. I thought the group of players was pretty talented, and should have done *much* better than they did. I'm very disappointed that after 4 years and mostly players that she recruited, KMM et al. weren't able to coax a better, more consistent effort out of this team.

I only saw one CU game live this year (vs. CSU), but what I saw there seemed to be valid throughout the season, from what I could glean from Carol Callan's commentary: (1) The substitution patterns were perplexing - sometimes players were left out on the floor even though clearly exhausted and less effective. (2) The coaches seemed too willing to give up on an otherwise decent game plan during those famous scoring droughts, so the team disintegrated into offensive stagnation or crazy playground maneuvers by individual players. The players rarely seemed to get their discipline back after those droughts. (3) Talented players seemed hesitant, like they were having to think too much, or were afraid of doing something outside a very strict set of rules they were given - I saw little creativity on the floor, although maybe that's just KMM's system. (4) Opposing coaches quickly figured out what CU was trying to do both offensively and defensively, adjusted to shut it down, and CU seemed largely unable to change to adapt to what was thrown at them mid-game.

[LadyBuff]

KMM does not seem to be able to adjust to what another team is doing or it takes her to long to realize what the opponent is doing and the adjustments that need to be made. Too much time is spent huddling with her assistants during time outs rather than working with the players. If you watch other coaching staffs, the head coach talks to the assistants briefly and then goes to the huddle. Some time outs, KMM spents but a few seconds with the players. She seems totally confused and perplexed when it comes to adjusting to the opponent.

It has gotten old reading in the paper after every game that KMM just doesn't understand the droughts. There is one regular season game left. When will you understand the problem and fix it? Not this season.